A History of the Mahrattas v1.c11.93

v1.c11.93

Shah Jehan had four sons, Dara Shekoh, then with his father at Agra, Sultan Shuja, viceroy of Bengal, Aurungzebe employed as we have seen, and Sultan Moraud, governor of Guzerat. As all the sons aspired to the crown, each of them now assembled an army to assert his pretensions. Dara Shekoh, as soon as his father's life was in danger, assumed the entire powers of the state; but he had previously been vested with great authority. To his influence was ascribed the order which obliged Aurungzebe to desist from the siege of Golcondah, and also the appointment of Meer Joomleh over his brother to the command of the army, at this time employed against Beejapoor. He was jealous of all his brothers, but he dreaded Aurungzebe. His apprehensions were well founded; the ambitious character of that prince, masked under the veil of moderation and religious zeal, was an over-match for the open and brave, but imprudent and rash, disposition of Dara. The latter openly professed the liberal tenets which the court of Agra had derived from Akber, but which ill-accorded with the religious feelings of most of the Mahomedans in the imperial service. Aurungzebe perceived and took advantage of this circumstance, carrying his observances of the forms enjoined by the Koran to rigid austerity, and having, or pretending to have, nothing so much at heart as the interests of religion and the propagation of the faith of Islam. One of the first acts of Dara was to issue an order recalling Meer Joomleh and all the principal officers serving in the Deccan; a measure to which he may have been in some degree induced by partiality towards Beejapoor, as well as by hatred to his rival brother. Aurungzebe, by the advice of Meer Joomleh, immediately resolved on counteracting this order by marching to the Moghul capital. His first step was to accept the overtures of Ali Adil Shah, from whom he obtained a considerable supply of ready money, and concluded a treaty, by which he relinquished the advantages he had gained, and in a few days was on his march towards the Nerbuddah. As the family of Meer Joomleh were at Agra in the power of Dara, the former suffered himself to be confined by Aurungzebe in the fort of Doulutabad, where Aurungzebe also lodged his own younger children and the ladies of his family. His second son, Sultan Mauzum, was left in charge of the government of Aurungabad. Aurungzebe's first care was to deceive his brother Moraud Bukhsh into a belief of his having no design upon the crown for himself; that such views were wholly inconsistent with the religious seclusion he had long meditated; that self-defence against the enemy, their brother Dara, obliged him to take up arms, and that he would join to assist in placing Moraud Bukhsh on the throne. Accordingly, their forces having united, they defeated the Imperial armies in two pitched battles. Dara became a fugitive; and although he afterwards assembled an army, he was again defeated, and at last betrayed into the hands of Aurungzebe, by whose orders he was put to death. Shah Jehan, contrary to expectation, recovered from his illness, and during the advance of his sons sent repeated orders, commanding them to return to their governments; but to these mandates they paid no attention, as they pretended to consider them forgeries by Dara. As soon as Aurungzebe had his father in his power, he imprisoned Moraud Bukhsh, gained over his army, deposed the Emperor, and mounted the throne in the year 1658.¹ Having sent for Meer Joomleh from the Deccan, they marched against his brother Shuja, discomfited his army, and forced him to fly to Arracan, where he was murdered, and Aurungzebe was thus left undisputed master of the empire.